What’s your earliest memory? Mine is sitting outside the kitchen with my sister when we were very small trying to catch the water from the sink in buckets to stop it going down the drain. And yes we got into trouble from our Mum!
Remembering is important and memories are precious. November is a month of Remembering – All Souls Day, Guy Fawkes Day, Remembrance Day.
Remembering is one of the things that makes us human. Christianity encourages us to remember. Jesus himself at his last supper with his friends takes the components of the meal, bread and wine, and encourages them to get together and use these things to remember him. We continue to do this to this day. In the Old Testament Moses told the Israelites not to forget what had happened to them in Egypt and how God rescued them. We are told to remember God’s commandments. There are lots more examples.
Over and over again we see God creating ways to remember His works. It helps us make meaning for our lives and sustains us with hope. It has been said that Remembrance is an act of love. God remembers us, and his remembrance, his love is the foundation of the world.
The power of remembering surrounds us all the time. It helps us to learn lessons from our past, from history. We recall people and events that have been important to us and to our community.
Why not stop for a moment right now to remember, to make real, a positive memory from your past; maybe recall a person or a value that speaks to you of something precious - and be grateful .
Let’s give thanks that God has given us memories!